Mount Vernon woman sentenced for role in toddler's 2018 death
A Mount Vernon, Indiana, woman who pleaded guilty to one count of felony child neglect for her role in the 2018 death of 14-month-old Nyla Brantley Gold will serve 16 years in prison, a Posey County judge ruled Monday.
The ruling will see 30-year-old Samantha Jo Burris, the second of two defendants to plead guilty in connection with Nyla's death, serve the maximum sentence allowable under state guidelines.
Posey County Circuit Court Judge Craig Goedde sentenced Burris' boyfriend and co-defendant, Richard Kennedy, to serve 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections in February.
From 2018: Child neglect arrest affidavit reveals more details about investigation into baby's death
The Indiana State Police led the criminal investigation into Nyla's October 2018 death. ISP detectives concluded Burris and Kennedy failed to seek medical care for Nyla after the toddler suffered a severe head injury while in their care.
According to investigators, Burris agreed to babysit Nyla on Oct. 3, 2018, as she had done multiple times. But sometime after Nyla's parents dropped her off, they received a text from Burris: Their child "was not acting right," Burris wrote.
Nyla's parents soon picked their daughter up from Burris' Mount Vernon apartment and met with first responders at a nearby Arby's restaurant. Both parents described Nyla as unresponsive, the police said.
According to court records, a Posey County Sheriff's Office deputy who was at the scene observed raised bumps on Nyla's forehead, an indication of a head injury doctors said she suffered.
Law enforcement officers arrested Burris and Kennedy on preliminary charges of child neglect within hours. Nyla succumbed to her injuries three days later at a Cincinnati hospital's intensive-care unit, officials said.
Writing in Nyla's obituary, her family said she loved music, dancing and making everybody around her laugh.
"She was an angel who loved her parents very much and enjoyed spending time with her family," Nyla's obituary states. "Her family and friends will miss her greatly."
Posey County prosecutors charged both Kennedy and Burris with child neglect resulting in death, though Kennedy faced a Level 1 felony charge while Burris faced a Level 3 charge, according to court records.
Over the next five years, multiple jury trials would be scheduled and then canceled as Burris' and Kennedy's cases wound through the court system.
In February, Kennedy signed a plea agreement, and Goedde would sentence him to serve the maximum, 30-year sentence on Feb. 16, court records state.
Burris was set to go to trial in late September, but weeks before a jury could ever be seated she pleaded guilty. Goedde formally sentenced Burris Monday to the maximum allowed under the terms of her plea agreement: 16 years.
According to Posey County Prosecutor Thomas Clowers, Burris faced a minimum sentence of three years in prison.
"This is an incredibly sad and tragic case," Clowers said Monday. "The sentence imposed cannot bring Nyla back, but I’m grateful that Nyla’s family received some measure of closure and justice today. Nyla will never be forgotten by any of us."
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Mount Vernon babysitter sentenced to 16 years for toddler's death
